riechen — German conjugation
to smell
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Irregular
Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.
Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | rieche | I smell |
| du | riechst | you smell |
| er/sie/es | riecht | he/she/it smells |
| wir | riechen | we smell |
| ihr | riecht | you (pl.) smell |
| sie/Sie | riechen | they smell |
Simple past (Präteritum) Irregular
Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.
Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | roch | I smelled |
| du | rochst | you smelled |
| er/sie/es | roch | he/she/it smelled |
| wir | rochen | we smelled |
| ihr | rocht | you (pl.) smelled |
| sie/Sie | rochen | they smelled |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Irregular
The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.
Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe gerochen | I have smelled |
| du | hast gerochen | you have smelled |
| er/sie/es | hat gerochen | he/she/it has smelled |
| wir | haben gerochen | we have smelled |
| ihr | habt gerochen | you (pl.) have smelled |
| sie/Sie | haben gerochen | they have smelled |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Irregular
The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.
Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte gerochen | I had smelled |
| du | hattest gerochen | you had smelled |
| er/sie/es | hatte gerochen | he/she/it had smelled |
| wir | hatten gerochen | we had smelled |
| ihr | hattet gerochen | you (pl.) had smelled |
| sie/Sie | hatten gerochen | they had smelled |
Future I (Futur I) Irregular
Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.
Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde riechen | I will smell |
| du | wirst riechen | you will smell |
| er/sie/es | wird riechen | he/she/it will smell |
| wir | werden riechen | we will smell |
| ihr | werdet riechen | you (pl.) will smell |
| sie/Sie | werden riechen | they will smell |
Future II (Futur II) Irregular
Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.
Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde gerochen haben | I will have smelled |
| du | wirst gerochen haben | you will have smelled |
| er/sie/es | wird gerochen haben | he/she/it will have smelled |
| wir | werden gerochen haben | we will have smelled |
| ihr | werdet gerochen haben | you (pl.) will have smelled |
| sie/Sie | werden gerochen haben | they will have smelled |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Irregular
Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.
Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | röche |
| du | röchest |
| er/sie/es | röche |
| wir | röchen |
| ihr | röchet |
| sie/Sie | röchen |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Irregular
The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.
Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | rieche |
| ihr | riecht |